Cathedral Life and the Freiburg BO

[doversoul1]

Saturday
Catherine Bott visits Lincoln to explore what it would have been like to be in a cathedral choir in the days of the "Father of English Music" William Byrd. Was the life of a 16th-century chorister so different to that of a 21st-century one?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01bllz7

A slight tie-in with The Choir?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01blmcp

Sunday
Lucie Skeaping introduces highlights of a concert given by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra directed by Petra Müllejans, given at the Konzerthaus in Freiburg. The bass Johannes Weisser joins them in music by JS Bach and a setting of the Lamentations by Jan Dismas Zelenka. The programme also includes Bach's Double Concerto for oboe and violin in D minor BWV 1060, played by Ann-Kathrin Brüggermann and the orchestra's director, the violinist Petra Müllejans.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01blm3r

And CD Review
11.40 Disc of the Week: Vivaldi/Teuzzone
Le Concert des Nations
Jordi Savall.

An enjoyable weekend ahead

[Simon]

Thanks for the listing, DS.

[jean]

I'm hearing a tinge of English pronunciation of Latin (saelestis...susipe...)

[vinteuil]

I'm hearing a tinge of English pronunciation of Latin (saelestis...susipe...)

... and you think this is a Bad Thing??

[jean]

No - just interesting.

You'll remember that it was discussed on this thread:

http://www.for3.org/forums/showthread.php?4216-Byrd-Andrew-Carwood-amp-the-Cardinall-s-Musick

[Laurence Target]

This was almost everything that such a programme should be. Catherine Bott, a star, presented it with modesty, allowing the participants and the music to speak of what cathedrals do in a way that almost compelld a better appreciation of their value and the need for them. Superb.

[Simon]

Couldn't agree more with #6. Perhaps I would have chosen a wider sample of tracks from a wider range of foundations, but that apart, excellent. Many thanks R3!

[ardcarp]

Maybe they chose tracks of the Byrd Mass that were sung with very boyish, head-voicy trebles. (Sometimes they sounded as if they were navigating their way through the notes rather carefully rather than relishing the lines.) But who knows how they would have sounded in Byrd's day? Maybe more like NCO or WC ? It is tempting to think of Tudor times (both pre- and post- Reformation) as a Golden Age of church music. Research tends to show a lot of problems with choir members and their masters...so it is possible that today is actually our Golden Age. Discuss....

[Old Grumpy]

Maybe they chose tracks of the Byrd Mass that were sung with very boyish, head-voicy trebles. (Sometimes they sounded as if they were navigating their way through the notes rather carefully rather than relishing the lines.) But who knows how they would have sounded in Byrd's day? Maybe more like NCO or WC ? It is tempting to think of Tudor times (both pre- and post- Reformation) as a Golden Age of church music. Research tends to show a lot of problems with choir members and their masters...so it is possible that today is actually our Golden Age. Discuss....

Couldn't possibly comment on the voices - but probably the golden age in the the range of styles and renditions available through recorded media and, indeed, in the live situation.

OG

[decantor]

To tell the truth, I was slightly disappointed in the programme. Cate Bott is a sensible and reliable presenter, but I felt there was just too little material to satisfy the programme's declared purpose: I suppose I was hoping for fresh revelations about the Byrd era. Conversely, I relished the musical samples offered whilst understanding the reservations of others.

And so to ardcarp's 'Golden Age' gauntlet. Aled's The Choir recently reminded us of the singing style between the wars (via the remarkable Ernest Lough) - and I have always hated it, even when I was singing treble myself, and even while I accepted its technical virtues: for me, it was weedy, prissy, precious, emasculated. When eventually I was in a position to attend evensong at King's (Willcocks) and/or John's (Guest) every evening, I began to believe that I was indeed living in a Golden Age of cathedral music - the Temple choir, still under GTB, also seemed to have moved into the new era, as did a number of cathedrals, though not yet the Oxford choirs. In buying choral LPs, caution was needed: Decca and Argo would probably be fine, but the upstart Alpha label needed to be vetted.

Jump half a century into the present, and the situation is utterly changed again. The sound of the choirs, and especially the treble line, is more robust, and there is a far wider range of choirs that can deliver the goods while maintaining their individuality; very few Anglican cathedrals are left with choirs of parish church standard. I rejoice in these developments, and once again consider myself to be enjoying a new Golden Age, characterised by variety of sound and vividness of performance and all-round accomplishment. The tangy sauce for this feast is that it is prepared against the odds - the cathedrals should by rights be dying off, but musically they go from strength to strength. The introduction of girl choristers dismays me not at all, since essentially it is the freshness of young voices that is needed, though the continuing dominance of boys is a bonus. But do not misunderstand me: I am not claiming a general perfection, but rather an ongoing rise in standards, give or take, that might not have been expected.

As further evidence of a Golden Age, I would invoke the stream of new music that is being made available by contemporary composers. This keeps the tradition lively, and would only happen if there were choirs of sufficient competence to deliver it - as there are, and not just in the metropolis and universities. Thus, in my view, it remains only to predict whether a Platinum Age will follow. I have my doubts, but I would also have doubted progress in 1962.

[ardcarp]

Splendid post, decantor. I too had thoughts that this particualr EMS was a little short on substance...though I usually defend it and especially Ms Bott to the death.